Battle of Agincourt – 1415

Battle of Agincourt

October 25, 1415 – In one of the great victories in military history, the bedraggled army of the young English King Henry V massacres a French force three times its size at Agincourt in northern France.

Henry V leads his troops into battle and participates in hand-to-hand fighting. The French king of the time, Charles VI, did not command the French army himself as he suffers from severe psychotic illnesses with moderate mental incapacitation. Instead, the French is commanded by Constable Charles d’Albret and various prominent French noblemen of the Armagnac party.

As in previous battles of the Hundred Years’ War, the English use their massed longbows to deadly effect against French knights who are weighed down by heavy armour and make easy targets on the cramped battlefield.

By the time the battle peters out, nearly 6000 Frenchmen are killed. The English have lost about 400.